Overnight Chocolate French Toast Cups How-To

It’s said breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Some days I believe it, some days, not that much. It pretty much depends on what’s for breakfast, if you know what I mean.

For me, my favorite breakfast is weekend breakfast. The days when I try not to rush and have a gazillion things done by 8 o’clock. Lazy weekend mornings are for home-baked goods – biscuits, cinnamon rolls or French toast. No cold cereals allowed.

Homemade goodies don’t have to be complicated, even if you have to turn the oven on first thing in the morning.
French toast, as you know, consists of thick slices of bread soaked in a mixture of sweetened eggs and milk, toasted in a frying pan and topped with syrup of your choice. The first time I had French toast I was younger than my daughter currently is. It was my mom’s favorite way to use stale bread. Sometimes we’d beg her to buy an extra loaf of bread just so we could have French toast for breakfast.

But, you see, I’m afraid of the frying pan. I’d rather bake all day than stay near the stove for 30 minutes.
Making a baked version of my favorite childhood breakfast was just a matter of time. And since I wanted to make it a weekend indulgence, why not throw in some chocolate chunks? Who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast?

These Chocolate French Toast Cups are really simple to make. You’ll need a day-old loaf of Crusty French loaf bread and a few other ingredients I’m sure you already have in your fridge. Eggs, half-and-half, chocolate chunks and sugar.

If you don’t have half-and-half, you can use a mixture of heavy cream and milk or you can use just 2% milk. But for a richer taste, half-and-half is best.

Cut or tear the bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Don’t make the cubes too small or they will get mushy. Mix with the chocolate chunks and divide them between a greased 6-cup jumbo muffin pan.

In a small bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and half-and-half.

Pour the mixture over the bread cubes, pressing the cubes into the muffin cups gently with your fingers.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or at least for a couple of hours.
In the morning, turn the oven on, remove the plastic wrap and bake the cups until golden.
Serve warm with a drizzle of chocolate syrup.